


Fired Up for Fun

by cminerva



Category: Ted Lasso (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Pre-Canon, Valentine's Day, college days
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:47:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29437026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cminerva/pseuds/cminerva
Summary: Ted brings valentines to class and Beard starts thinking about the future. Not romantic, but can be if you want!
Relationships: Ted Lasso & Coach Beard
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	Fired Up for Fun

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know, y’all, I just thought Ted and Beard’s relationship needed a little more love. I'd love to see more content for their early friendship and coaching career, but this little piece is what I could manage today!

Beard settled himself in his usual corner of the classroom and went about arranging his textbook, notepad, and pens in preparation for class. He looked up at a sudden burst of laughter from across the room, unsurprised to see that the disruption was due to the arrival of Ted Lasso. Ted was not the best student in the class - Beard wasn’t quite sure what Ted was majoring in but it certainly wasn’t Kinesiology - but he hung in with the rest of them with good humor and an impressive ability to accept his failures with grace. He’d told the class his dream was to be a football coach and while Beard thought most teams would run right over this affable but hapless kid, he wouldn't mind seeing the other guy succeed.

Ted moved around the long tables of the anatomy classroom, dropping paper cards and candies in front of each student. Most of the students gave him incredulous looks - who gives out valentines in a college course? - but a few people gave him high fives and there was a lighter than usual atmosphere in the stuffy, windowless room.

Beard looked down at the card Ted had placed in front of him.

“Elway, nice,” he commented, tapping the number seven jersey of the NFL player on his valentine. “Interesting choice though.” 

Ted grinned.

“Well I figured of anybody in the class, you’d be able to appreciate the talent regardless of the team.”

Beard couldn’t help but smile and Ted moved along to the next table, rushing to finish distributing the cards as the professor arrived.

Beard was a chess player, not a psychic, so while he couldn’t see the future he was always thinking several moves ahead. After less than two semesters of knowing him, Beard could tell that Ted, the guy with the goofy grin and questionable grasp of their A&P curriculum, had a natural talent for connecting with people and identifying their strengths. Good qualities for a coach. He knew Ted would eventually stumble his way into the coaching career he wanted and would likely find real success. Then again, Beard reflected that Ted might do a bit less stumbling with a strategic mind by his side. 

Beard considered the text on the paper valentine -  _ Hope you’re fired up for fun!  _ \- then looked up and caught Ted’s eye before nodding once. Ted clearly had no idea what that was supposed to mean but he beamed and nodded back. Beard picked up his pen and focused his attention on the instructor’s slides, more than pleased with the path he saw unfolding before him.

**Author's Note:**

> So after coming up with this idea this morning, I was delighted to find images of NFL-themed valentines from the mid-90s when Ted and Beard would have been in college and the Elway card caught my eye as I still love the Broncos despite no longer keeping up with the games. John Elway is a Denver Broncos/NFL legend who was active in the 80s and 90s and I imagine Beard would have had a lot of respect for him despite the fact that the Broncos and the Kansas City team (mascot not to be named) are division rivals. (And yes, I know Kansas City is in Missouri, but it’s the closest NFL team to the state of Kansas and two hours away from K-State, so Ted and Beard definitely claim it as their team.) 
> 
> Fun fact, I now hc that Beard and Ted attended Kansas State University where Beard majored in Kinesiology with a concentration in Applied Exercise. I think Ted would have majored in something less science-y, but would have still taken some related courses to round out his studies in preparation for a career in sports.


End file.
